Alex and Rishi finally make it to the museum. It’s no surprise that the suprisingly small building, nestled in a normal-looking neighborhood and surrounded by a high stone wall, has been barricaded shut. The owners, clearly anticipating looters, have constructed heavy barriers—reinforced with both wood and metal.
"Shit... this won't be easy to get inside!" Alex curses.
Rishi just smiles, his tone shifting back to the usual polite and thoughtful manner. "I see several weak points in this shoddy construction. Don’t worry, my friend. We can either climb in from above—there are some windows that aren’t fully blocked—or we could use a vehicle, or even your grenades, to force our way inside. For now, let's focus on finding the weapons. We’ve already filled our special inventories. While we could replace some items with higher-value loot, I’d say we've got a decent haul. We should concentrate on other players and the ranking!"
Alex knows Rishi is right, but he would have preferred raiding rare treasures over engaging in risky and deadly PvP. Still, replacing lower-value items with more valuable ones will only slightly improve their mission rating, not secure a spot in the special Top 3 rankings.
They casually make their way to the golf course. Along the way, they encounter a few crazed people. Alex, aiming with precision, takes one out with a clean headshot, scaring off the rest. They begin searching for the crate.
Half an hour passes, and Alex is ready to give up when Rishi suddenly calls out, "I got it!"
Alex quickly rushes over to see Rishi standing by a small container filled with weapons. It’s not as much as Alex hoped, but there’s still a decent variety. Inside, they find different guns, pistols, and even some explosives. As expected, the system doesn’t recognize them as mission items, but after a bit of testing, they manage to fire the guns successfully.
"There’s our ticket into the museum, these explosives will do just fine," Rishi says as he sorts through the gear, putting on a bulletproof vest to boost his defense.
They quickly store the guns, ammunition, and extra gear, with Alex tossing out a few boxes of medical supplies from his inventory to make space. Rishi does the same.
Just as they are about to leave, Rishi suddenly pulls Alex back into the container.
"SEARCH FOR THEM! THE PLAYERS SHOULD BE SOUTH," someone yells nearby.
"See, my friend, that’s what I was telling you about the quality of the larger group we saw in the Realm," Rishi says, grinning. "I recognize that guy as one of the group of lackeys led by that aggressive woman and her brother you told me about. Aren’t we lucky? They haven’t found our targets yet and sent out scouts like this highly careful and smart player, and they’ve practically served themselves up to us on a silver platter. Let’s take him and the rest out quickly."
Instead of targeting the player searching the area 30 meters ahead with their newly acquired weapons, Rishi silently casts "Mind Blast." The "hunter" scouting for low-level players lets out a pained scream, collapsing to his knees. Without missing a beat, Alex finishes him off with one of the Glocks he picked up earlier, using his Pistol Proficiency lvl 2 to deliver a deadly accurate shot.
You have dealt 19 x 3 = 57 damage to Player 50
You have killed Player 50
Alex quickly moves up to claim the loot.
You received Bloody Chest (Player 50)
[Current ranking:
1. Player 3 - 5
2. Player 13 - 3
3. Player 1 - 2]
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
"I owe you one for the kill steal," Alex says, slightly embarrassed.
"It’s fine. We have plenty more points to gather... and it looks like they’ve set up their base in the golf course. I’d say it’s time we pay them a visit."
They stealthily approach the golf course, noticing that the players aren’t even trying to keep a low profile. They’re yelling and joking, acting as if they own the entire area. The group is lounging in a wide circle in front of the golf course’s main building, and Alex and Rishi manage to hide in the nearby bushes, just a few dozen meters away.
"Are they serious? Is this some kind of trap?" Alex whispers, baffled by the situation.
Rishi's smile grows wicked, his bloody intentions plain as day. "I told you... even if we were up against a hundred of these idiots, it wouldn’t matter," he says, pulling out a heavy machine gun that looks brutally intimidating, though Alex can't identify the model.
"Let’s throw some of your grenades," Rishi suggests, a gleam of excitement in his eyes. "I’ll take the right side, and you throw yours to the left. Then, we shoot at whatever’s left, hehe take a look at how they are joking around looking like they are having a lot of fun! I can’t wait to see how their faces will look in just a few seconds! Get ready… NOW!"
They each grab two Annihilation Grenades lvl 2, lighting the 3-second fuses. Simultaneously, they throw them—Rishi’s to the right side of the group and Alex’s to the left.
Rishi’s machine gun roars with chaotic, wild bursts, the shots flying everywhere, while Alex methodically picks off targets, taking advantage of the chaos to aim at any player he can easily target.
After just a few seconds, they hear the grenades explode, Alex gets hit with dozens of notifications. Still, they keep firing, and Alex sees a few people trying to flee. He accurately guns them down, picking off targets one by one. Finally, an enemy fires back with a gun, having taken cover behind a nearby golf cart. The assailant misses twice but grazes Alex’s shoulder while he’s reloading his pistols, luckily not landing a full hit or leaving a bullet inside.
You have taken 14 damage.
You have received a minor bleeding.
Suddenly, Alex sees a massive fire spell being cast by Rishi, engulfing the last enemy and the golf cart at the same time. The screams of agony echo for a few seconds before fading, leaving behind a charred body still smoldering.
The aftermath of their assault is a smoky silence, the air thick with the remnants of their attack. Nearby plants caught in the explosions and Rishi’s spell are still burning, adding to the chaos they’ve unleashed.
The results of the slaughter? 13 dead, including the one they killed earlier, making it 14 in total.
Surprisingly, Alex managed to take out 9 of the 14, which leaves Rishi looking a bit displeased. “I guess I shouldn’t have played Rambo, wildly spraying the crowd with bullets. You were a bit more effective," Rishi admits. "Are you hurt much, by the way?”
“Don’t worry," Alex replies. "The bullet just grazed me. How do we split up the chests? I'll take 6 more, you get the rest okay?” He temporarily removes his armor and clothes, clumsily using the medical supplies he picked up at the hospital to disinfect and bandage the wound.
“Sure!” Rishi agrees with a grin. They both gather the bloody chests after Alex finishes his treatment. Alex now holds 9 bloody chests in his inventory and calculates, "At 1% to 20%, I get somewhere between 9% and 180% of the average player's items. Nice!"
[Current ranking:
Player 13 - 11
Player 3 - 10
Player 1 - 4]
Alex laughs. “Oh my god, we are so going to win. The only way for them to beat us is if they target us... oh..."
Rishi chuckles, “Didn't think about that, did you? Don’t worry! More people targeting us means more bloody chests for us. And if they’re smart, they’ll realize we’re not going down easily if we’ve racked up this many points in just a few hours.”
"Anyway," Rishi continues, "let's check out the museum. According to their website, it's a museum of Tibetan art. I have to admit, I’m somewhat interested! Also, we now have targets on our backs. Let’s not bother heading north to their likely spawn point. Instead, we’ll take up a defensive position... and the museum is a perfect spot for an ambush. Other players will come for us, and we can loot the most valuable pieces at the same time."
As Alex and Rishi walk towards the museum, they come across a crowd of rioters and gangs still celebrating in the streets. Alex shares what he remembers from the movie, especially about the “fake” gangs hired by the NFFA that will arrive later. They arrive at the museum to find it already being ransacked.
“What now? We need to change our plan fast, right?” Alex asks, eyeing the chaos.
Rishi’s expression shifts to his trademark, sweet smile as he responds, “Alex, my friend, I have a question for you: have you ever robbed a bank before?”
Alex stares at him, speechless. "..."